Category Archives: cross stitch

WIP Wednesday 

Posted in cross stitch, me by

Whoa. Not a huge amount of stitching but some hauling is going on. My local junk store has a DMC stand from another that went out of business so I’m trying to get a full master set of DMC going.  At a buck a skein it’s good value so worth the detour. 


My current piece is Emma Congdon’s wise words. The quote is from LOTR / Hobbit (you’ll find it in both, worded slightly differently). I may carry this thru into December as the Stitch MAYnia monthly SAL is the nearest-to-finish WIPS. I have this and Mermaids of the Deep Blue planned. 

I may yet frog the white clouds for a light gray. Not totally sold on those. 

What are you up to in your crafty life?

EEP Monday-itis

Posted in cross stitch, family, growing, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, work by

I’m feeling more than a little off today. It’s the first Monday of the new fiscal month here at work, so it’s busy-busy-busy yet I want to play (as I write this I’m heading into the last couple of hours and I’ve cleared today’s reporting requirements and am up to the 23 store emails from Friday, so at least that’s something). As a family we have a new routine this week with Si away (we’ll see him briefly on Thursday but that’s it until Sunday). I am absolutely stoked to have finished Cloudsfactory A-Team (only 6 stitching nights!), a huge chunk of Persephone’s skirt for Stitch Maynia’s colour challenge (over 2K stitches or nearly half a skein!) and a new start on Emma Congdon’s Wise Words trilogy (altho for now I only want to do the Tolkien). Both my Secret Santas this year are really hard!!!

And on a personal note, I am struggling with forgiveness.

On Saturday my eldest brother let me know that his dad, my stepfather, is very ill and has been admitted to hospital. JM is 87, so this may be his time, but I am struggling to give a crap. I’m on empty when it comes to him & my (biological) mother – and that’s where I have an issue. Great that I’m not angry or disappointed or frustrated anymore – but where is my Christian spirit? My heart is so hard. I imagined visiting and telling him that I forgive their selfishness and the hurt they caused; but as neither honestly believes they have wronged anyone of us children this would be a waste of time, and would hurt me more. I’m having trouble lifting this burden. Please remember me in your prayers this week. x

Decisions, decisions…HOLP!

Posted in conversion details, cross stitch, friends, grateful, lavender & lace by

So I brought some haul, as Andie was preparing for a serious move. It was my civic duty, right? Yeah, let’s hold onto that thought.

But now I have a dilemma. I want to start Celtic Winter RIGHT NOW but I am at work, and no threads handy. Not ones that would suit! And I need to finish A-Team. And I brought two pieces of fabric, and I’m at a loss as to which will be best. Keep in mind that I am planning on changing the golds to silvers…

celtic-winter

The StashCache file is already uploaded onto that tab 🙂

 

What do you think?

WIP Wednesday 

Posted in conversion details, cross stitch, me, stitching patterns by

Seeing as I had a finish, there must then follow a start, right? Right.

This is two nights on Cloudsfactory’s A-Team. It’s working up quickly on 28ct Cloudburst lugana from Countrystitch . 

So far my only change was to bling out BA’s necklaces with Kreinik . It’s easy to tell in daylight but I used 002 instead of DMC 3821 and 102 instead of DMC 3852. Si likes it, but I think Bran is stealing it for his room!

November WIPocalypse – I have a finish!

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, Smalls SAL, WIPocalypse by

WIPocalypse is a monthly check-in hosted by Mel over at Measi.net – come join in!

I missed that moon last week. I ended up with the first migraine in months that took me out for 2 days; there was a massive earthquake that has shook up (ha, no pun intended) and made me realise that our house needs an emergency kit (fully related, the replenishment of ready meals in one of our chains has never been higher!) and sport took up three evenings and the full day on Saturday. On the plus side, I got paid for Saturday (totally unexpected!) and that money is going towards the JCS Christmas Ornie DVD – which will cost me $36USD to get shipped from 123Stitch or in NZD, $51.39. Eeep.

And as for the finish – it’s been a bit of a slog with this one, tbh (no fault of Andie’s!!) but as the fabric is so huge, and it belongs to someone else, I didn’t feel that I could bring it to work & keep it as clean as I needed too. Also not having scroll rods big enough meant that I had to stitch in hand, so had to make sure no food met my T before I sat down to stitch each time.

I played thread chicken again with the Kreinik. I firmly believe that if I hadn’t brought TWO rolls, I would have run out of the first and had to go back to Ribbon Rose in a mad dash. As it was, there is probably no more than 40cm left on the spool.

So here she is…Nora Corbett’s Petal Fairy. No thread conversions, no beads. I think I’ll eventually buy this chart for myself. She’s very pretty and delicate.

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I am totally counting her as my Smalls finish of the month too.

Topic:  What pattern (or designer) is on your must-try-to-stitch bucket list? I’m finding that as 2017 draws near, and so many of the people I follow have well thought out plans, mine are disappearing. I am fearing that I am losing my stitchy bug 😦 I have plenty to do, don’t get me wrong – but I am lacking the quiet time to get things done. I do have a few Erin Condon/Stitchrovia designs that I want to do – something about script is enticing me.

Earthquake update

Posted in cross stitch, grateful by

It’s been an awfully stressful 48 hour period for a lot of the country. Luckily, I’m based up in Auckland and the earth barely moved; as opposed to a girlfriend way down south whose bed turned into a bucking bronco. My family appears all to be OK; altho one brother is without power, he’s up above the flooding in Wellington and his furbabies are safe with him. Equally friends are also safe.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/86416304/live-north-canterbury-quake for on going details.

 

Starting Over Feels Like…

Posted in cross stitch, DIY home, house - gardens, me, sport, weight loss by

Stephanie has set up a mini SFS group to “dummy run” from November thru to January. Yay for the re-start. Now to be disciplined; October was a month of oh-I-can’t-buy-next-year-must-get-it-all-now and that isn’t sustainable in anyone’s life (craft, chocolate or whatever – do drinkers freak out before Dry July? Curious minds want to know).

Cattle at OTH
Padlock at Cornwall Park enterance
Entry on Seaview Terrace, Grafton
Si looking pretty in pink

After a nasty fall last week I’m starting over with exercise. I did walk to the Domain on Friday (just over 4km, so easy; Si & Biebs are now reffing a weekly tournament there in addition to Watchman Tag on Wednesday); we did the stairs on Saturday & the little ones and I walked OTH on Sunday. Last night I walked from work to Patiki; about 6.3km & then tonight is #BBM bootcamp. My summer routine will be about feeling strong.

I am not starting over with Jenny Craig however. I simply can’t continue to work those sums into the budget but I achieved what I wanted to. My portion size is mostly under control; I try to eat 5-6 times a day & I eat a lot healthier than I did. I’m certainly not eating chocolate every day (sorry for the sales crash, Whittakers) I’ve lost nearly 10 kilos and I don’t get headaches daily, even tho I stopped taking that medicine about 2 months ago. I’m counting all this as a win.

What can you start over to give you that “woo hoo” feeling?

PS – don’t forget to enter my giveaway over in Flosstube! Link in a previous post.

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, Teresa Wentzler by

I am shamefully over the Stitch from Stash budget. Shamefully. 63 bucks in the red for October! However I will have a couple of finishes for November, so should pull it back to be clean starting in January. If you want to join, look for “stitch from stash 2017a” in facebook (“a” is because it’s Jan-June, there will be a “b”).

Stitch From Stash Oct-16
Budget $25.00
Expenses L&L Nantucket Rose -8.00
CountryStitch FQ x 3 -100.00
Herschners Sale x 4 -5.65
L&L 48 Firefly Fairies -9.00
TW Wool Cross Tree Rose -2.00
Finishes Mill Hill Lapis x 2 10.00
Mill Hill various FFO 16.00
RR – Queen Mermaid 10.00
Rollover 0
Total Available Budget -$63.65

img_20161025_163214As you can see, I added something yesterday, a Teresa Wentzler design I’d only seen online. I’ve downloaded an Appleton to DMC wool conversion chart, then I’ll convert to standard DMC. I think this might be my summer project. You wouldn’t have this already converted would you, Teresa?

It doesn’t have back-stitch borders – that might change. It hardly seems like a proper TW without the back-stitch *laughing*

I also got a wee bit more of Petal Fairy’s face done last night while catching up on flosstube. And I realised how much Kreinik will be in those wings! Heaps!

IMG_20161025_213017.jpg

I also discovered (which will enhance my Stitch From Stash budget in 2017, as council rate components are not included!) that my library is part of Zinio’s for Libraries app. I can download the UK Cross Stitcher, World of Cross Stitch; UK and US fitness magazines like Shape, Women’s Health, Hers; UK history like BBC History and All About History and plenty more besides. The available titles depend on what your public library subscribes to, and of course there is a paid-for Zinio app, but both are well worth exploring. Have fun!

Feeling Good

Posted in cross stitch, family, friends, goals, grateful, house - gardens, me, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett, round robin, weight loss, work by

It was the first long weekend of the “summer” for us down here in NZ. The forecast wasn’t too crash hot but who cares? Three days away from the desk beckoned…

And it stayed that way. I thought about work late last night & decided that hey, I’m capable of getting heaps done today, so why break into family time when I really don’t need to? So we snuggled down (as much as one can with a sulky teen) & relaxed. I’m so relaxed right now that I have “losted” my work key and sat in my car until (work) Z appeared this morning! It worked out well as I remembered my alarm code & he couldn’t remember his.

Screenshot_20161022-160919.pngSaturday started with boot camp, like it has for the last few weeks. I am enjoying this start to my weekend. We did the other steps at Trusts this weekend for a change; terraces to bear climb (or reverse bear) or run down, steps to run up, ab work on the dock in the sun, listening to the water rush by. I still don’t like being in photos but there is a huge difference between 8 weeks ago and now. I have cheekbones! That’s Loren, Si & myself, with #masetheace above us. Si keeps telling himself (and us!) that he was the rose. Huh.

In the afternoon I surprised the kids with the Lego exhibit that was on at Trusts. I won over cynic Teen 1 AND 2, not bad for seven bucks a head! We probably spent a couple of hours there; didn’t buy anything but I am lusting after both the Disney castle and Hogwarts – I have earmarked part of my bonus on a family holiday, part towards a canopy for the new ute and now part for a Lego castle. I am earning it, I may as well be frivolous with part of it! Mase dug into his pile of Lego on Monday and created a robot – he asks that you note the “glasses” it is holding.

We also went to Waiwera to soak out the stresses. Biebs stayed home so Lou came; Mase and (regular) Z went down the lazy river, had cannon fights and so on; I got very annoyed at a bunch of 15yo boys who had a go-pro, took over the relax pool and talked (loudly) about boners, shaming fat girls & so on. If any one of them had a gf I’d be very surprised – what little sh*ts. Grateful I don’t see my teens in this mode (altho I am very sure they have a sh*t mode too).

img_20161023_133618Sunday was devoted to Grandma’s house. Two sets of steps are replaced; the gardens are pruned/chopped/weeded, lawns sorted. Hard to believe these were puny $2 buxus that I put in 12-13 years ago. That hedge is as high as my waist now.

Monday started at Bethells dunes with Chris & Loren (Paige & her fam were late). For all the time I’ve spend at the beach, I’d never gone into the dune side. Chris had planned a three-step exercise for us and OUCH my calves were cramping very quickly! However apart from the reverse bear crawls up the slope (no-one managed that) & the two-feet-together-jump-up (only Si managed that) & the body drops (I struggle with those as my wrist goes too far, so I sub out) – I managed to complete a set. Si, Loren & Bran were well into their second set at the end of 20. Then we did a final set as nine – Paige had appeared by then – & I think the kids beat us adults hands down. Next time I’ll bring the board to go down the dunes! 20161024_085847.jpg

The rest of the day was devoted to relaxing (we watched Peter Kay’s Tour that wasn’t a Tour vid, totally recommend & I was in stitches for good portions of it and its fairly clean), getting ready for the week ahead (I prep Si’s & my breakfast cereals, snacks & so on for the whole week on Sundays now as a kick-start & did a lot for the kids also), and speaking of stitches, I got in some time on Andie’s round robin. It was a bit awkward as her stitching is the opposite to mine (/// then \\\) and had forgotten that I could turn it 90 degrees to get the same result and use my method. You can tell I clicked yesterday as the progress was so much more! Doh.

Tag starts this week; Si and Biebs are refereeing at two tournaments a week this summer, on Wednesday and Fridays. Then boot camp is Thursday (I want to start adding Tuesday to my schedule); next Monday sees the start of Tag…our weeks are filing up as Monday swim classes started last week. The next few months are going to be an exercise in balance; but only 15 sleeps until the US Elections (I do not envy your selection), 29 until Thanksgiving (the tradition I think I would adopt) and 60 sleeps until Christmas! So that’s 55 until I’m on holiday…

 

October WIPocalypse with #passthestash link

Posted in conversion details, cross stitch, embroidery, friends, house - gardens, Mirabilia, round robin, WIPocalypse by

Ohh, look at me, posting stitchy stuff almost on time!

WIPocalypseWIPocalypse is hosted by Mel over at Measi’s Musings, & is a monthly round-up of all things stitchy.

For October, I’ve been really productive. In my garden, all the summer seeds are sown (including a set of herbs for a girlfriend who’s been the main instigator and supporter of my get healthy kick), the apple tree is now espalier’d along the fence, the citrus are fed, all but one bed is weeded – all this despite being sick for a full week.

img_20161014_201912Stitching wise, I’ve finished my initial Round Robin piece. This is going out in the post today (payday!) to Melinda in Akron. I’m excitedly waiting to receive Andie’s piece (I’d say go check out her blog but she’s as bad as I am recently!).

I’ve FFO’d 8 Mill Hill pieces, 3 of which I actually started and completed this month. That makes 6 ornaments for the Christmas gifts, and 2 Santa’s. I’m supposed to be swapping a Santa chart & as I sent mine in August, and haven’t got one back, I kind-of doubt that will happen.

And I signed up to Stitch From Stash 2017A, which is hosted by Stephanie & can be found on facebook. Since then I’ve gone on a massive haul spend so that I can start things next year. If I’d started SFS in October, I’d be broke until January!!! Eep. This did result in a new start, Tamara by Liz Almond. It’s working up reasonably quickly – this is after about 4 hours work (the colours are crap in flash photography, sorry – this is black and green threads (310, 561, 562, 563) on 28ct Geyser from Countrystitch:

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Question of the Month

What online stitching communities do you enjoy?

fb_img_1476767766853Well, I do enjoy watching Flosstube – so much so that I now participate. If you skip back a blog post, you’ll get #5, which has some #passthestash included – but you MUST comment on the video to enter! Entry is worldwide, you must be over 18, blah blah.

I’m back on Facebook, primarily for the Round Robin, Stitch from Stash and Butterbean Motivation groups. I cut back a lot of “friends” and its much more peaceful.

I’m also on Instagram as @sewscrapmuse. Feel free to request there; if you’ve got stitchy posts I will automatically add you.